This invention relates to a mounting system for supporting a boat out of water. More specifically, this invention relates to a boat mounting system for loading, supporting, transporting and unloading a boat onto, on and from a vehicle roof.
Boats are generally transported overland either on top of a vehicle or on a trailer drawn behind the vehicle, depending, in part, on the size of the boat relative to the vehicle, with smaller boats being more amenable to roof-top transport. The vehicle roof or trailer adapted to receive the boat is usually provided with a system of mounting elements such as rollers, chocks or bunks. The mounting elements ideally are placed and configured so as to support the boat evenly and to mount the boat as closely as possible to the vehicle roof or trailer chassis consistent with avoidance of inadvertent contact between the boat and the roof or trailer. However, evenly balanced support and close mounting are difficult to achieve together. On the one hand, the divergent shapes of various boat's hulls confound attempts to design a mounting system that maintains conformal engagement over a large surface area of the hull for many different boats. On the other hand, the trailer-mounting systems which have been designed to conform to a variety of different hull shapes require complicated and unwieldy mounting systems which raise the boat far above the trailer chassis. A need exists for a vehicle roof rack or trailer with a system of compact, re-configurable mounting elements which are maneuverable in pitch and bank to receive and conform to variously-shaped boat hulls and which, at the same time, safely dispose the boat in a secured position as closely as possible to the vehicle roof or trailer chassis to minimize the total profile of the boat on the vehicle or trailer.
Boats are generally loaded on a vehicle's roof by one or more persons lifting the boat up and over the vehicle onto the mounting system. Boats are generally loaded on a trailer by partially submerging the trailer at a boat ramp just deeply enough so that the boat can be partially floated and partially dragged over the mounting system. The boat is then tied to the trailer and the trailer is drawn up the boat ramp, settling the boat fully on the mounting system. For both roof and trailer mounting, the boat-contacting surface of each mounting element is made of a soft, smooth material that minimizes scratching of the hull during loading and transporting. The boat-contacting surface may have a low frictional coefficient, allowing the boat to slide freely over the surface, or, the mounting elements may have a high frictional coefficient and be designed to roll as the boat passes over the element, providing a non-damaging, frictional engagement of the boat. Neither of these types of elements, as designed in the past, have provided a combination of an easy-rolling loading engagement of the boat together with a loaded engagement of the boat hull that is generally fixed against longitudinal and lateral movement of the boat. Therefore, the boat has been required to be secured against such movement in a horizontal plane in addition to requiring securing against upward movement. A need exists for a boat mounting system that allows easy loading, even by a single person, and that also secures the boat against movement in the horizontal plane.
Kayaks are a popular type of small boat that are typically stored out of water and, thus, require frequent loading and transporting overland. Kayaks, especially the one-person versions, are preferably capable of being loaded on a vehicle roof by a single person. One method of loading such a boat on the vehicle roof is for the person to carry the boat to a point in front of behind the vehicle and to lift one end of the boat onto a simple row of rollers rotatably carried directly on a cylinder rigidly secured across the vehicle roof. Holding the other end of the boat, the person pushes the boat along the rollers until the boat is in a balanced position for transporting with the boat resting entirely on the rollers. Finally, the person secures the boat to the vehicle roof or rack using ropes, bungee cords or straps. To unload the boat, the process is reversed.
To make loading and unloading of the boat as convenient as possible, and to conform the mounting elements to the shape of the boat's hull, the mounting elements should have some degree of maneuverability. For the frictional engagement of the boat hull, the mounting elements should roll, i.e., rotate about an axis transverse to the boat-loading direction, so the boat can move lengthwise along the vehicle roof during loading and unloading. In addition, the mounting elements should tilt inwardly about a bank axis parallel to the length of the boat, so they can direct the boat to a secure position during the loading operation and conform to the side of the hull. For example, mounting elements on the left side of the boat should tilt in a clockwise direction from a horizontal position and rollers on the right side of the boat should tilt in a counter-clockwise direction from a horizontal direction. Further, the mounting elements should be pivotal in pitch to conform longitudinally to the curvature along the hull and to a temporary angling of the boat during a one-person loading operation from the front or rear of the rack. The boat should be mounted as close to the vehicle roof as possible because this lowers the center of gravity of the boat and is important for aerodynamic stability and cross-sectional wind resistance. Minimizing the total profile also reduces the risk that the vehicle/boat combination will be too high to travel under low bridges or other obstructions.
Previous attempts to minimize the mounting height of a boat compromised maneuverability of the mounting elements about the pitch and bank axes. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,001,679 to Canning et al. discloses a mounting system having blocks with a relatively low profile with respect to the bar upon which they are mounted. However, the blocks are rotatable only about the bank axis. The blocks do not pitch and do not roll. As explained above, this is undesirable for a mounting system where one person must load a boat on a vehicle roof. On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,249 to Johnson discloses a trailer with a mounting system wherein a series of rollers are rotatable about the pitch and bank axes. The pitch axis coincides with the point of attachment to the trailer, while the bank axis lies at least several inches above the pitch axis. The axis of rotation of the individual rollers is further above the bank axis. This mounting system places the boat high above the trailer chassis. Further, many components are required to provide the two degrees of freedom.
Although rollers assist the loading/unloading operation by allowing the boat to glide lengthwise into a transporting position, the boat must then be prevented somehow from sliding lengthwise off the rollers. Previous boat mounting systems used winches to hold the boat lengthwise in place during transporting. This was satisfactory for a trailer-mounted boat but extra equipment would be needed to attach a winch to a vehicle roof. Other systems replaced the rollers with non-rotating mounting elements so that the boat would slide against the mounting elements during mounting. Although the frictional force between the boat and the mounting elements held the boat more securely in place during transporting, the same frictional force had to be overcome when mounting the boat, thus making the loading operation more difficult. In addition, the boat could be damaged by being rubbed along the frictional mounts during loading and unloading. The boat can be strapped in place for transport but it is difficult and time-consuming to secure the boat adequately against lateral and longitudinal movement, although securing against vertical movement, if necessary because the boat is light, is considerably easier to accomplish with straps.
The rack and boat mounting system of the present invention provides a roof rack with bars running across a vehicle roof, one in the front end and one in the rear end of the roof. Roller mechanisms that can be placed as desired on the cross bars are provided with two rollers each, each roller rotatable about a transverse axis and each roller mechanism free to pivot about both a pitch axis and a bank axis. The rollers have a rubber-like outer surface that provides a frictional engagement of the boat hull. At least some of the rollers are also provided with a lock that is selectively operable by a user either to allow the rollers to roll freely during loading or to lock the rollers against rolling to secure the boat to the roof rack for transport. The pitch and bank axes of the roller mechanism are substantially coplanar with one another and also with the rolling axis of the roller.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a boat mount that is both capable of conforming to a wide variety of boat hulls and effective to mount the boat with a low total profile.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a roller engagement of the boat hull for easy loading combined with the ability to be selectively converted to a non-rolling, secure engagement of the boat hull.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it conforms to the varying curvature of the boat hull as the boat is being loaded.
Another advantage of the present invention are the simple, modular parts, including boat mounts that can be selectively installed on and removed from a roof rack or trailer. The boat mounts are also compact and rugged to minimize the possibility of damage and to make the mounts economical.